Homes in rural Ireland must be prioritised for electricity supplies ahead of data centres according to a local MEP.
Luke 'Ming' Flanagan believes the centres, which took up 14 percent of the country's generated power last year should not come before the people.
An Oireachtas Committee heard this week that Ireland is at an 'increased risk' of power outages in the coming months, due to a drop in supply on mainland Europe.
The impact of data centres on the national grid has been heavily criticised by opposition TDs and representatives, with two new Amazon centres planned for Dublin receiving permission last month.
MEP Flanagan is calling for the government to prioritise homes and small businesses ahead of Multinational companies:
''They bring income into to the country and there are certain benefits out of this but if push comes to shove this winter, and we have to make a decision as to who gets the electricity we have to be clear here that it can't be the data centers. It has to be homes in rural Ireland and homes all around the country. That's one massive decision that has to be made.''
